Munster head coach Clayton McMillan says he stands by his decision to hire Roger Randle as the province's new attack coach.
Randle, who previously worked under McMillan at the Chiefs in Super Rugby, will replace Mike Prendergast as the attack coach this summer.
The province confirmed the appointment of Randle on Wednesday afternoon, but the announcement was met with a negative reaction among many Munster supporters, due to a prior rape allegation against the incoming assistant coach.
In 1997, Randle was accused of raping a woman while in Durban, South Africa with his former club Hurricanes.
The New Zealander was initially charged with rape, but the case did not proceed as the complainant dropped the charges. Randle has always denied the allegation against him.
In a statement, Munster Rugby insisted that "due diligence" was followed before Randle’s hiring.
"Munster Rugby is aware of a historical matter concerning newly appointed coach Roger Randle from 1997," the province said.
"At the time, no legal process was pursued, and the matter was closed. Munster Rugby carried out due diligence during this recruitment process and are satisfied with the appointment which has been ratified and approved."
Head coach McMillan spoke to the media this afternoon after naming his team for Saturday's BKT United Rugby Championship clash with Benetton.
And the head coach was asked about the negative reaction to the new coaching appointment.
"I'm well aware of how our supporters and people in the rugby community are feeling about Roger's appointment," McMillan told RTE Sport.
"I fully respect that people will have an opinion, but it's not an opinion that is shared by me.
"I've known Roger for a long time. I think he's an outstanding human, well loved by family and people that have worked alongside him for a long period of time."
In addition to the reaction from supporters, there was also some negative rection to the process of appointing Randle from within Munster.
On Wednesday, the Irish Independent reported that former Munster players Mick O’Driscoll, Billy Holland and Killian Keane have resigned from their positions on the province’s Professional Games Board (PGB) after they were informed of the appointment.
The PGB is an eight-person body which oversees major decisions in Munster Rugby, with O'Driscoll, Holland and Keane sitting on the board as independnt nominees.
"I'm aware that there's some former players on the PGB that resigned as a result of this decision and like our supporters, I respect that they all have their reasons for why they did that," McMillan added.
Randle (below), who won two caps for the All Blacks in 2001, has been coaching for more than 18 years, working with – among others - Waikato in the NPC, the Maori All Blacks, New Zealand Barbarians, the Japan Sevens and most recently the Chiefs, where he coached alongside McMillan.
And while the Munster coach vouched for his former assistant’s credentials, he insisted their "due diligence" extended further.
"I think there's been a number of people throughout the organisation that would have been canvassed around Roger's appointment and, in the end, that process determined that Roger was ratified for the job," McMillan continued.
"Roger stood out for me naturally because I know him as a person and I've worked with him for a long time.
"We've got our challenges here and what I feel I need is somebody that can come and add value, as I said, alongside Mossy in a shared attack role, but also somebody that I've worked with.
"The job here isn't an easy one and, you know, as we all do in life, we lean to people who we trust and have worked with before to navigate through situations just like this."
McMillan was also asked what message he would give to the province’s supporters who had concerns around Randle’s appointment.
"I would ask people to put their trust in me and other people.
"I think if you jumped onto the Chiefs website [yesterday], for example, and you read the comments about Roger Randle, you'll see glowing reports of a man that's loved by a huge cross-section in New Zealand, a family man, an honest man, and one that I trust unequivocally.
"Again, I can understand that people will have an opinion, but it's not one that I share, and I honestly believe that he can come here and help our team and players develop and excel.
"I can only speak for the person that I know and that I've worked alongside.
"This is a person who has had an allegation made against him. It didn't proceed to a legal process, dropped pretty quickly. But the stigma of that has remained with him.
"But I admire the way that he has, as a rugby player and a coach and a father, dealt with that challenge."
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